Can You Find The Source of These Quotations?

If you like a challenge, try this. All these quotations are taken from the same source. Hint: I’ve mentioned before.

“God’s rules of action are immutable and therefore what He did to one company of His people He will do to others of them. God is Sovereign but yet He acts according to His unchanging Nature so that from one of His proceedings we may infer the rest.”

“God gave you all Covenant blessings in Christ Jesus according as He chose you, in Him, from before the foundation of the world. God saw you in Christ as His elect, His Beloved, His redeemed and therefore for you He prepared a kingdom which you inherit through His Grace. If you have now the confidence to believe in Christ Jesus and to say, “My Beloved is mine, and I am His,” then you shall know that in grasping gracious blessings you do but come to your own!”

“Beloved, who among us knows all that is ours in Christ? He is a case which is all ours, but we do not open its doors and take out all its treasures! Our possessions in Christ are very wide but we need to be bid, like Abraham, to lift up our eyes to the north and to the south and to the east and to the west, that we may form a clearer idea of the goodly land which the Lord our God has given us! We see the blessings of the Covenant but do we feed on them as we might! Do we drink deep into them and is our soul satisfied as with marrow and fatness by them? I fear we do not”

” it is your high privilege to have access to the Mercy Seat—but do you use that access and come often and boldly to the Throne of Grace? Do you avail yourselves of your opportunities? Do you make the utmost use of prayer?”

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Something to Mediate On

“Christians must not lose sight of the truth that the eternal life we celebrate-the abundant life we have in Christ-comes at monumental cost. For us, the cross must be more than an ornament, symbol, or spire topping. It must serve as a constant reminder of the lengths to which God in Christ would go to save us. Such love and sheer grace deserve and demand our best in love, worship, and service.”

Taken from “Life Ventures, Bible Studies for Life, winter 2012-2013.)

We as Christians must never forget that our access to our Heavenly Father comes by way of His son, Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross, and shedding His blood for us.

From “Morning Thoughts” by Winslow

“Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.” John 20:29

THE circumstances of the Savior’s resurrection were in harmony with its lonely and solemn grandeur. No human witness was privileged to behold it. The mysterious reunion of the human soul with the body of Christ was an illustrious event, upon which no mortal eye was permitted to gaze. There is a moral grandeur of surpassing character in the resurrection of Christ unseen. The fact is not an object with which sense has so much to do, as faith. And that no human eye was permitted to witness the stupendous event, doubtless, was designed to teach man that it was with the spiritual, and not with the fleshly, apprehension of this truth that He had especially to do. What eye but that of faith could see the illustrious Conqueror come forth, binding with adamantine chains hell, death, and the grave? What principle but the spiritual and mighty principle of faith could enter into the revealed mind of God, sympathize with the design of the Savior, and interpret the sublime mystery of this stupendous event? It was proper, therefore, no it was worthy of God, and in harmony with the character and the design of the resurrection of our Lord, that a veil should conceal its actual accomplishment from the eye of His Church; and that the great evidence they should have of the truth of the fact should be the power of His resurrection felt and experienced in their souls. Oh yes! the only power of the Savior’s resurrection which we desire to know is that which comes to us through the energy of an all-seeing, all-conquering, all-believing faith. Oh, give me this, rather than to have witnessed with these eyes the celestial attendants clustering around the tomb-the rolling away of the stone that was upon the sepulcher-the breaking of the seal-and the emerging form of the Son of God, bearing in His hands the emblems and the tokens of His victory. The spiritual so infinitely transcends the carnal-the eye of faith is so much more glorious than the eye of sense, that our Lord Himself has sanctified and sealed it with His own precious blessing-“Jesus says unto him, Thomas, because you have seen me you have believed: blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.” Blessed Jesus! in faith would I then follow You each step of Your journey through this valley of tears; in faith would I visit the manger, the cross, and the tomb; for You have pronounced him blessed above all, who, though he sees not, yet believes in You. “Lord, I believe: help You mine unbelief.”

 

From “Evening Thoughts” by Winslow

“Then Jesus spoke again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Joh_8:12

Are you, my reader, a searcher of this life? Are you breathing for it, panting after it, seeking it? Then be it known to you, that He who inspired that desire is Himself the life for which you seek. That heaving of your heart, that yearning of your spirit, that “feeling after God, if haply you may find Him,” is the first gentle pulsation of a life that shall never die. Feeble and fluctuating, faint and fluttering, as its throbbings may be, it is yet the life of God, the life of Christ, the life of glory in your soul. It is the seedling, the germ of immortal flower; it is the sunshine dawn of an eternal day. The announcement with which we meet your case-and it is the only one that can meet it-is, “THIS MAN RECEIVES SINNERS.” Oh joyful tidings! Oh blessed words! Yes, he receives sinners-the vilest-the meanest-the most despised! It was for this He relinquished the abodes of heavenly purity and bliss, to mingle amid the sinful and humiliating scenes of earth. For this He quitted His Father’s bosom for a cross. For this He lived and labored, suffered and died. “He receives sinners!” He receives them of every name and condition-of every stature and character and climate. There is no limit to His ability to pardon, as there is none to the sufficiency of His atonement, or to the melting pity of His heart. Flee, then, to Jesus the crucified. To Him repair with your sins, as scarlet and as crimson, and His blood will wash you whiter than snow. What though they may be as clouds for darkness, or as the sand on the sea-shore for multitude; His grace can take them all away. Come with the accusations and tortures of a guilty conscience, come with the sorrow and relentings of a broken heart, come with the grief of the backslider, and with the confession of the prodigal; Jesus still meets you with the hope-inspiring words-“Him that comes unto me, I will in no wise cast out.” Then, “return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon you; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon!”

 

From “Zion’s Wayfarer” by Joseph Philpot

“The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” _53:6

What heart can conceive, what tongue express what the holy soul of Christ endured when “the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all?” In the garden of Gethsemane, what a load of guilt, what a weight of sin, what an intolerable burden of the wrath of God did that sacred humanity endure, until the pressure of sorrow and woe forced the drops of blood to fall as sweat from his brow. The human nature in its weakness recoiled, as it were, from the cup of anguish put into his hand. His body could scarcely bear the load that pressed him down; his soul, under the waves and billows of God’s wrath, sank in deep mire where there was no standing, and came into deep waters where the floods overflowed him (_69:1; _69:2).

And how could it be otherwise when that sacred humanity was enduring all the wrath of God, suffering the very pangs of hell, and wading in all the depths of guilt and terror? When the blessed Lord was made sin (or a sin-offering) for us, he endured in his holy soul all the pangs of distress, horror, alarm, misery, and guilt that the elect would have felt in hell forever; and not only as any one of them would have felt, but as the collective whole would have experienced under the outpouring of the everlasting wrath of God. The anguish, the distress, the darkness, the condemnation, the shame, the guilt, the unutterable horror, that any or all of his quickened family have ever experienced under a sense of God’s wrath, the curse of the law, and the terrors of hell, are only faint, feeble reflections of what the Lord felt in the garden and on the cross; for there were attendant circumstances in his case which are not, and indeed cannot be in theirs, and which made the distress and agony of his holy soul, both in nature and degree, such as none but he could feel or know.

He as the eternal Son of God, who had lain in his bosom before all worlds, had known all the blessedness and happiness of the love and favor of the Father, his own Father, shining upon him, for he was “by him as one brought up with him, and was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him” (_8:30). When, then, instead of love he felt his displeasure, instead of the beams of his favor he experienced the frowns and terrors of his wrath, instead of the light of his countenance he tasted the darkness and gloom of desertion–what heart can conceive, what tongue express the bitter anguish which must have wrung the soul of our suffering Surety under this agonizing experience?

 

From “Morning and Evening” by C. H. Spurgeon

“The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.” – Jdg_7:20

Gideon ordered his men to do two things: covering up a torch in an earthen pitcher, he bade them, at an appointed signal, break the pitcher and let the light shine, and then sound with the trumpet, crying, “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon! the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!” This is precisely what all Christians must do. First, you must shine; break the pitcher which conceals your light; throw aside the bushel which has been hiding your candle, and shine. Let your light shine before men; let your good works be such, that when men look upon you, they shall know that you have been with Jesus. Then there must be the sound, the blowing of the trumpet. There must be active exertions for the ingathering of sinners by proclaiming Christ crucified. Take the gospel to them; carry it to their door; put it in their way; do not suffer them to escape it; blow the trumpet right against their ears. Remember that the true war-cry of the Church is Gideon’s watchword, “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!” God must do it, it is his own work. But we are not to be idle; instrumentality is to be used-”The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!” If we only cry, “The sword of the Lord!” we shall be guilty of an idle presumption; and if we shout, “The sword of Gideon!” alone, we shall manifest idolatrous reliance on an arm of flesh: we must blend the two in practical harmony, “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!” We can do nothing of ourselves, but we can do everything by the help of our God; let us, therefore, in his name determine to go out personally and serve with our flaming torch of holy example, and with our trumpet tones of earnest declaration and testimony, and God shall be with us, and Midian shall be put to confusion, and the Lord of hosts shall reign for ever and ever.

From “Light and Truth: Bible Thoughts and Themes,” by Horatius Bonar

The Apostolic Only.

“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.” – Php_1:27.

Only! Was this all? Yes, all, in the sense of its being one chief, main thing; pre-eminent above others. As he says for himself elsewhere, ‘This one thing I do;’ so here, he says to them, Only! Ah, what stress he lays upon a godly life, a consistent walk! Whatever be your earthly lot, be it joy or sorrow; whatever your gifts, your privileges, your enemies, or your friends-keep this in special remembrance, as if it were the one thing in life; be men of one idea, one desire, one purpose-live a holy life! How earnestly does the apostle inculcate this!

The word ‘conversation’ is a peculiar one. It does not mean speech or intercourse; it refers to our general deportment or manner of life as citizens-our citizen-life. We have a double citizenship; earthly and heavenly. We are still men in the flesh, citizens of earthly cities; and in the living of this citizen-life, we must not forget whose we are;-we must remember the gospel, and Him whose gospel it is. Our heavenly citizenship we must ever keep in mind, and walk worthy of it; for we are citizens of no mean city-of the joyous city. Let our whole life, with all its goings out and comings in, in every relationship, civil, social, domestic, be ‘as becometh the gospel.’

It is by the gospel that the apostle would have us test ourselves, and mould our life. It was with the belief of this gospel that our life began; thus let it go on. The gospel lifted us up to a higher level; let us remain there, or rather, let us ascend still higher. To bring out this, let us see what sort of gospel it is that we have come into the possession of.

I. It is a gospel of peace-Let us who have believed it walk at peace and in peace; possessors of peace, and makers of peace. Let peace be written on our forehead and speak out in every word, look, motion. Let us be witnesses for peace; living symbols of peace; seeking the things which make for peace, and which will commend, to all who see or hear us, the peace of God.

II. It is a gospel of liberty.-It has brought us into liberty, and broken our yoke. Let us walk as freemen; our whole lives a witness for true freedom. Let our citizen-life be the life of liberty. The Son has made us free; let us see that we be free indeed; that we commend to the bound world the liberty of Christ.

III. It is a gospel of gladness.-There is no gloom in it; and there ought to be none in those who believe it. It should make our faces shine,- shine all over, so that we may make all men see and feel what a happiness it contains. Walk worthy of this happy gospel. Let men see what a treasure you have within. Rejoice in the Lord. Let your joy be ever full, and overflowing. Let your whole life, your citizen-life, your whole deportment, be an exhibition of this happy gospel.

IV. It is a gospel of light-There is no darkness in it. It is all light; all like Him with whom the light dwelleth, who is light, and in whom is no darkness at all. Let us shine; let our life be a bright one. Let our whole demeanor be brightness, like that of the gospel which we profess. Let our ways and words be all brightness. Let us be children of the light and of the day. Our dwelling is in a dark world. Let not that darkness mar or absorb our light, but rather intensify and enhance it. Let each day’s darkness in the world be met with new brilliance in us. Let us bring out the contrast nobly; and so have our conversation as becometh the gospel of light.

V. It is the gospel of holiness.-A holy gospel; a gospel concerning deliverance from sin; a gospel meant to secure holiness; a gospel which embodies the holiness of a holy God. All in and about this gospel is holy. Let our conversation, our citizen-life, be as becometh this gospel. Let us exhibit it, adorn it by a holy life. An inconsistent life is a scandal, a reproach against the gospel. Let us be consistent, circumspect, watching our ways and words. Let it be seen that we are citizens of the holy city.

VI. It is the gospel of Christ.-He is its all; its sum and burden. The news which are so good are about His person and His propitiation; His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His second coming. We are to walk as becometh such a gospel! We are to live as men who believe in such a Christ as this! If this thought were ever before us, should we not be more on our guard against all sin, more intent on advancing in holiness? Shall we not seek to honour the gospel of Christ? Shall we trifle with it, or treat it as a common thing?

VII. It is the gospel of the kingdom-It brings us the good news of the heavenly, the everlasting kingdom. It points us to the open gate into it. It makes us heirs of it. In that kingdom is the city of which we are heirs; the city which hath foundations, into which nothing that defileth shall enter; where all is perfect, glorious, divine; the New Jerusalem. Let us remember our heirship, our citizenship, and walk accordingly. With such a hope, let us be holy; let us set our affection on things above; let us hold fast; let us be faithful; let us live here as sons, kings, priests; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.

 

 

A Thought on Being a “Christian.”

I recently read an article about how one could be assured of their salvation, in other words, how one could be sure that he were a “Christian.”  You know it’s not uncommon to hear people say that they are a “Christian,” but saying does not make it so.  A. W. Tozer once said, “Tens of thousands, perhaps millions, have come into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ, and they have not been saved.”  When you read that how does it make you feel?  Have you ever doubted whether you’re a “Christian” or not?  I confess that when I read that quote, it made me stop and consider.  I don’t think anyone who’s honest can say that they haven’t ever asked the question of themselves.  To be honest, I’d be worried about you if the thought had never gone through your mind.  If you really love Christ, I believe you’re going to be concerned about whether you know Him or not, and if your life is pleasing to Him.

We live in a country where many proclaim “Christianity” but, as we all know, just because someone says something doesn’t make it so.  Who of us hasn’t ever claimed to be something we weren’t?  A lot of people lay claim to families, wives, children, houses, cars, and  businesses, but just because we claim them doesn’t mean we own them, that they belong to us.  In fact, how do we know that what someone says is true, that what they claim actually belongs to them?

I know you’re thinking that’s a dumb question, but is it really?  How many of us have thought we knew someone, and what they were about only to find out that we didn’t know them at all?  We live in a world where “misrepresentation” is the norm, where “appearance” is everything.  From the President on down, we all know people who have made claims, made promises, that they had no right to make.  Now how do you and I know that?  Do we have a secret decoder ring?  Did we call 1-800-I can tell you?  Did we watch it on the news, or read it in the paper, or get it off the internet?  A lot of us get our sources of information from these places, and I submit to you that’s a part of the problem.

Truth is that most of us know when we’re being deceived, when we’re being lied to, and most of us know when somebody has made a false claim.  Most of the time the reason we know a false claim when we see one is because the evidence doesn’t support the claim.  There’s an old saying that goes, “The proof is in the pudding.”  You know what I’m saying.  Nobody in this world has to be a genius to figure out when they’re being lied to, misled, and manipulated.  All of  us have personal experience with having done all these things, and so recognizing the signs isn’t all that hard.  Perhaps you don’t like being lumped in with everyone else, but truth is truth, so if you’ve never heard this before it’s time you knew.

Now getting back to the question of being sure that you are indeed a “Christian.”  It’s not as hard as you may think.  First of all, the “Word Of God” gives us that assurance.  Did you know that?  If so, do you know where to find it?  If not, then perhaps that’s why you’re having some trouble.  You’re going to have to take my word for it when I tell you that I know where it is because I’m not going to tell you.  You want assurance look it up.  If you’re looking to anyone or anything other than “God’s Holy Word” the Bible to provide it then you’re looking to the wrong thing.  It’s just that simple.  This is an opportune time to ask yourself a few questions, “Do I have an interest in the Word of God?”  “Do I have a hunger for the Word of God?” “How often do I read and turn to God’s Word when I need guidance?”  I’ll let your answers stand for themselves.

You know I’ve often heard that the problem with “Christianity” is “Christians.”  Do you think that’s true?  If so, I’ve got news for you.  It’s not!    The problem with “Christianity” is people who claim to be “Christians.”  You have a misconception about “Christianity” if you think it’s about claiming Christ.  “Christianity” is about Christ claiming us.  That’s where too many of us have a problem, including yours truly,and that’s why so many “Christians” struggle.  It’s because we’re trying to maintain the claim, we’re trying to work the claim.  We want the power.  We want to claim “Christ,” and He is not ours to claim.

Too many “Christians” in this country and the world over live with the attitude that we’ve done “Christ” a favor by letting Him die for us.    What a privilege it must have been for you, God, to send your son to die for me.  Let me tell you something you will never experience the light and love of Christ and the grace He offers until you understand that “Christ” gave himself for you.  He willingly took your sin upon himself and died for you.  At the moment He died, He laid claim to your life, so stop living like He belongs to you, instead of the other way around.

Too many people go around living their lives like God is a little puppy following them around so thrilled to belong to them, and just wanting them to love Him.  You claim Christ?  Good for you.  A lot of people do and they feel wonderful about it, and they’re so happy.  They go around living their lives paying no attention to the pain and needs of others, building monuments to themselves, entertaining themselves, and thinking God loves me so whatever I do is okay.  Get This….it’s not!

You want to know if you’re a Christian.  Ask yourself not how much of a claim you have on Him, but how much He has a claim on you…

From “Music For The Soul” by Alexander Maclaren

July 20

I’ve never seen this put better…

CHRIST’S UNSOUGHT LOVE

I am found of them that sought Me not. – Isa_65:1

Christ’s own word is a wonderful one: “The Father seeketh such to worship Him “; as if God went all up and down the world looking for hearts to love Him and to turn to Him with reverent thankfulness. And as the Father, so the Son – for us the “revelation of the Father: “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Nobody on earth wanted Him, or dreamed of His coming. When He bowed the heavens and gathered Himself into the narrow space of the manger in Bethlehem, and took upon Him the limitations and the burdens and the weaknesses of manhood, it was not in response to any petition, it was in reply to no seeking, but He came spontaneously, unmoved, obeying but the impulse of His own heart, and because He would have mercy. He who is the Beginning, and will be first in all things, was first in this. “Before they call I will answer,” – and came upon earth unbesought and unexpected, because His own infinite love brought Him hither. Christ’s mercy to a world does not come like water in a well that has to be pumped up, by our petitions, by our search, but like water in some fountain, rising sparkling into the sunlight by its own inward impulse. He is His own motive; and came to a forgetful and careless world, like a shepherd who goes after his flock in the wilderness, not because they bleat for him, since they crop the herbage which tempts them even further from the fold and remember him or it no more, but because he cannot have them lost. Men are not conscious of needing Christ till He comes. The supply creates the demand. He is like the “dew which tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.” But not only does Christ seek us all inasmuch as the whole conception and execution of His great work are independent of man’s desires, but He seeks us each in a thousand ways. He longs to have each of us for His disciples. He seeks each of us for His disciples, by the motion of His Spirit on our spirits, by stirring convictions on our consciences, by pricking us often with a sense of our own evil, by all our restlessness and dissatisfaction, by the disappointments and the losses, as by the brightnesses and the goodness of earthly providences, and often through such poor agencies as my lips and the lips of other men. The Master Himself, who seeks all mankind, has sought and is seeking you at this moment. Oh! you yield to His search. The shepherd goes out on the mountain side, for all the storms and the snow, and wades knee-deep through the drifts until he finds the sheep. And your Shepherd, who is also your Brother, has come looking for you, and at this moment is putting out His hand and laying hold of you through my poor words, and saying to you, as He said to Philip, ” Follow Me! ”

 

From “The Word For You Today” by Bruce Christian, Satan Is Defeated (5)

The power of persuasion…

SATAN IS DEFEATED (5)

     The only power Satan has over you is the power of persuasion.  “The serpent..asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you must not eat”…Of course we may’…’You won’t die…God knows that your eyes will be opened…And you will be like God’…The woman was convinced.  She saw that the tree was beautiful and it’s fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her.  So she took some…The she gave some to her husband…At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame…When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden.  So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.  Then the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’  He replied, ‘I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid.  I was afraid because I was naked'” (vv. 3:1-10 NLT).  Never forget that story!  And keep this in mind also: Satan is a talker, and you’ll never out talk him.  The power of persuasion is an incredible thing.  The fashion industry can persuade you to take a wardrobe you paid a small fortune for last year, and replace it with what they’re selling now.  Clothes you felt good about then, you don’t want to be even seen in now.  The trouble is, in a few years’ time the clothes you wore last year will be back in fashion; you’ll be poor, and the fashionistas will be rich.  Temptation is all about persuasion.  But if Christ has already persuaded you, Satan can’t make you do anything.